Resource-Based Learning“…a planned educational opportunity that actively involves students in the

meaningful use of a wide range of resources”

http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/teachlib/index.htm

Resource-Based Learning (RBL) is a student centered approach

Students are supported in learning the research process through the use of a variety of

resources

Variety of Resources• Print Resources – Books, Encyclopedias, Newspapers, Magazines

• Internet Resources – Databases, Free Net

• Human Resources – Experts, Local Resources

Student – Centered Approach

• Students should be given some choice in research topics

• Teachers and students can work together to individualize the research process and the product

• Students become more responsible for own learning

Benefits of Resource – Based Learning

• RBL is suitable for many learning styles

• Students practice working independently

• RBL fosters a collaborative atmosphere

• Focus is on learning rather than on teaching

• RBL allows for differentiated instruction• RBL allows teachers to work collaboratively

Pitfalls of Resource – Based Learning

• Students may not know how to use resources

• What will the students do with the information they find?

• Students may find RBL inflexible

• RBL may not work for everyone

What should Resource-Based Learning look like?

Saskatchewan Learning’s recommendations...Saskatchewan Learning’s most recent document (1986) on Resource Based Learning

outlines 3 phases of school development towards a culture of Resource-Based Learning. The three phases described in the guidelines represent increasingly sophisticated and

complex levels of development. Phase one represents minimum adequacy. Phase three represents excellence, a goal which, with commitment and persistence, can be achieved by all schools in Saskatchewan.

Below are three “Program” categories pertinent to our workshop discussion accompanied with the Phase 3 “Excellence” descriptor.

• Resource-Based Instruction--Teacher and teacher-librarian share teaching role as a result of cooperative planning.

• Library/ Research Instruction (now most well-known as Information Literacy)--Information skills are integrated with the instructional program in a systematic and developmental way through all grade levels

• Cooperative Planning (now often referred to as Collaboration)--Instructional outcomes are achieved through cooperatively planned and implemented resource-based programs.

– retrieved January 16, 2006 from http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/policy/rbl/guide.html

Role of the Teacher Librarian

• InstructionInstruction

• ManagementManagement

• Professional Development and AdvocacyProfessional Development and Advocacy

Instruction• Instruction should form 60-75% of the teacher

librarian’s timetable• Instruction involves: curriculum expertise,

specialized instructional strategies and collaborative planning and teaching

• Instructional time also includes: development of reading lists, assistance in student resource use, development of student understanding and appreciation of literature and information

resources and pulling of resources for teacher use

Management• Management should involve 15-20% of

the teacher librarian’s timetable• Management includes: evaluating and

selecting resources, budget management, circulation procedures, resource centre schedule and maintenance of the collection

Professional Development and Advocacy

• Professional development and advocacy should form 10-20% of the teacher librarian’s timetable

• Activities: leadership in reading and review of new materials, knowledge of new educational trends, providing in-services for fellow staff and suggesting and advising on teaching and learning strategies

New Issues Impacting on the Teacher Librarian’s

Role• Assisting in searching out information,

evaluating information, synthesizing new findings

• Expert in issues of plagiarism and copyright

• Expert in new technologies, collection management in a much broader sense,

finding online resources, data base searching

Changing the Role• Phase One: Teacher librarian’s suggest materials

and share information with classroom teachers• Phase Two: Teacher and teacher librarian meet

to do planning of resource based learning activities

• Phase Three: A systematic plan for the teaching of information and communication skills is in place. Teacher and teacher librarian work together to integrate skills and strategies into on-going classroom activities

What This Means• The teacher librarian has a key role in

the implementation of resource based learning

• The teacher librarian does not just give out the resources, s/he is a full partner in planning, teaching and evaluating units

• The teacher librarian helps to integrate the appropriate researching skills and strategies into classroom content

Top 10 Advantages of Teacher/Teacher Librarian Collaboration

• 1. Collaboratively planned Resource-Based Inquiry Learning projects promote: critical thinking, independent and/or cooperative learning, self-determination, constructivism, and intrinsic motivation.

• 2. Teacher Librarians were teachers first. They bring years of teaching experience to a collaborative planning partnership.

• 3. Both parties of a collaborative team contribute different, complementary strengths to planning. Teachers bring unique knowledge of their students, as well as curricular and methodological expertise to the collaborative table while Teacher Librarians bring expertise in Information Literacy, Media Literacy, Information and Communication Technology and Research skills. In addition, TLs have intimate knowledge of how the school’s resource collection supports the curriculum. What better partnership to form when undertaking a RBL unit which needs to utilize multiple resources?

• 4. Teacher and Teacher Librarian can experience the creative, educational, synergistic power of team planning.

• 5. Team teaching effectively cuts the pupil to teacher ratio in half, resulting in more one-on-one contact time for all students.

Top 10 Advantages of Teacher/Teacher Librarian Collaboration (continued…)

• 6. Team-teaching creates a camaraderie and support system for both teacher and teacher-librarian.

• 7. Collaboration is what Teacher Librarians are trained to do. They WANT to do it! (And, in point of fact, the Saskatoon Public School Division Teacher Librarian Handbook mandates that 60% of the Teacher Librarian’s time is to be spent in the area of Instruction.)

• 8. Team-teaching allows for more flexibility in student groupings, activities and enhances opportunities for differentiated instruction.

• 9. Research (see The Colorado Study, 1993) shows that the strength of a School Library Media Center’s staff and collection is the best predictor of student achievement. As part of this relationship, Teacher Librarians who join with teachers in cooperative planning and teaching contribute strongly to this achievement.

• 10. Student learning in information literacy is most effective when integrated with classroom instruction through cooperative planning and team-teaching by two equal partners: the classroom teacher and the teacher-librarian. (OSLA, 1998, Doiron & Davies, 1998, Haycock, 1997).

Building a Collaborative AtmosphereWhat TLs can do…

Factors involved in building a Collaborative Atmosphere can be divided into two groups...Environmental Factors and Internal

Factors.

A. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS...(those factors which lie principally outside of the TL’s control)

• Principal Awareness and Support

• Teacher Awareness and Perception

• Fixed vs. Flexible Scheduling

B. INTERNAL FACTORS…(those factors which lie within the TL’s control)

• Credibility of the Teacher Librarian

• Advocacy and Seeking out of Collaborative Opportunities

• Interpersonal Skills

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Principal Awareness and Support

• Principals must support collaboration in terms of budget dollars for collection development as well as clerical/technical

personnel support.

• Principals’ verbal encouragement and valuing of faculty/TL collaboration is extremely helpful

• Principal support (both temporal and monetary) for common planning time also enables collaboration.

Turner (1980) found that principal attitude was positively correlated to program implementation

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Teacher Awareness and Perception

• Teachers (both pre-service and in-service) must be made aware of the instructional and collaborative role which can be played by the Teacher Librarian.

• You don’t have to go it alone. Your teaching abilities are not diminished in the eyes of colleagues or parents if you seek help and expertise from others. Rather, the opposite occurs. Cooperating with others shows that you seek help and expertise when needed, which is what effective teachers and learners do.

Wolcott, L.L. et al, as cited in Small (2002) found that teachers had a limited vision of the total teacher librarian potential.

Library Media Specialists are often viewed as storytellers and providers of resources rather than co-teachers who share common goals, (Bishop & Larimer, 1999).

Research shows that most students, teachers and administrators don’t perceive library media specialists and media centers as integral to their own success (Hartzell, as cited in Russell, 2002) even though teacher librarians who collaborate with classroom colleagues make a difference to literacy and student achievement,

(Haycock, 2004).

Levels of CollaborationWhere does your school fit?

• Image retrieved February 26, 2006 from http://proquest.umi.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/pqdweb?index=4&did=35017745&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1140987904&clientId=12301

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS Fixed vs. Flexible Scheduling

• Principal support for flexible library scheduling is key to enablingteacher/TL collaboration.

Fixed scheduling describes the TL’s timetable which has each class of students scheduled during a fixed period.

Flexible scheduling describes a TL’s timetable in which classes can book the library and TL’s time on an as-needed basis.

The amount of planning time between SLMSs and teachers was a highly positive indicator for higher student test scores (Lance, Rodney and Hamilton-Pennell, as cited in Harada, 2002).

The greatest amount of collaboration occurs when the media specialist (TL) has a flexible schedule and team planning is encouraged by the principal (Tallman & Van Deusen, 1994).

Haycock (1998) states that while media specialists on a fixed schedule spend up to five minutes planning with a teacher, a media specialist on a flexible schedule spends more than 30 minutes.

INTERNAL FACTORS Credibility of the Teacher Librarian

• TLs should have prior teaching experience

• In order become an equal and active partner in the collaborative instruction process, the TL must possess knowledge of:

a) the school-wide curriculumb) the library resource collectionc)how the curriculum can be supported by the resources in the

collectiond)information and technological literacye)integrative instructional strategiesf)effective teaching and learning strategies

• TLs can increase credibility and show their commitment to strong teaching and learning by being part of curriculum writing committees, School Improvement and Professional Development committees

INTERNAL FACTORS Advocacy and Seeking out of Collaborative Opportunities

• Communicating formally by email, written note, newsletter, attending grade/team meetings, giving short staff meeting information sessions about what is happening with library programs, holding new resource open houses, or putting new resources into the hands of a colleague you know will be able to use them.

• Communicating informally at lunch, in the halls, or in the staff room with colleagues about what they are doing in their classes, looking for ways to offer help or suggest a collaborative activity. Look for the opportune moments to collaborate.

INTERNAL FACTORSInterpersonal Skills of the TL

• Display an attitude of openness and helpfulness. Put action behind the attitude.

Social factors, contributing to the complexities of human relationships, appear to supersede environmental factors. Schedules, time limitations and administrator support are always serious issues; however, many TLs remain steadfast in building collaborative partnerships despite environmental roadblocks (Brown, 2004).

• Build trust with colleagues by talking with them. Express interest in what they are doing both in and out of school. Much like any relationship, if people see that you value them, they are more likely to feel comfortable working collaboratively.

Kathy Paterson, middle school librarian at the Taipei American School in Taipei, Taiwan, says the single most important thing she has done to enhance collaboration is to talk to teachers, (Buzzeo, 2004).

• Be flexible and available to meet and plan when it’s convenient for teachers to do so. Their schedules are much less flexible than that of the TL.

Building a collaborative atmosphereWhat teachers can do…

• Have clear goals and objectives for research projects and tasks

• Communicate with the TL about your needs and desires with respect to library and resource usage

• Be open and receptive to TL’s ideas and suggestions

• Give the TL some lead time for preparation and organization of materials and activities

• Don’t ‘dump’ students in library. – Allow your content knowledge and the TL’s Information Literacy skills to complement each

other– Be involved. Allow your students to benefit from the attention and help of two instructors.

ReferencesBishop, K., & Larimer, N. (1999). Literacy through collaboration. Teacher Librarian, 27 (1), 15-20. Brown, C. (2004). America’s most wanted: teachers who collaborate. Teacher Librarian, 32(1), 13-19. Brown, S., & Smith, B. (1996). Resource-based learning. London:

Kogan Page.Buzzeo, T. (2004). Using communication to solve roadblocks to collaboration. Teacher Librarian, 31

(5), 28. Doiron, R. & Davies, J. (1998). Partners in Learning, Students, Teachers, & the School Library.

Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited. Farwell, S. (1998). Successful models for collaborative planning. Knowledge Quest, 26 (2), 24-30.Hambleton, A., Meadley, P., and Roberts, E. for the Saskatchewan School

Libraries Association. (1992). Where did you find that? Regina: Saskatchewan School Libraries Association.

Harada, V. (2002). Taking the lead in developing learning communities. Knowledge Quest, 31 (2), 12-16.Haycock, K. (2004). Priority-setting: the tough work. Teacher Librarian, 31 (4), 6. Haycock, K. (1998). Collaborative Cultures, team planning and flexible scheduling. Emergency Librarian,

25(5), 28. Haycock, K. (1997). Reinventing School Libraries: Alternatives, Models and Options for the Future. Education Canada, 38

(1), 44-52. Manitoba Education and Training. (1994). Resource-based learning: an

educational model. Winnipeg: Manitoba Education and Training, Instructional Resources.

Nicholson, J., Yaskowich, C., Beltramini, J. & Erlendson, M. (2005). Teacher-librarians...supporting student learning. Retrieved 27 February 2006 from http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/teachlib/

References (continued)

OSLA. (1998). Information Studies Grades 1-12. Toronto, ON: Ontario School Library Association.

Russell, S. (2002). Teachers and librarians: Collaborative relationships. Teacher Librarian, 29 (5), 35-38.

Simpson, C. (1996). The School Librarian’s Role in the electronic Age. Eric Digest. Retrieved February 26, 2006 from www.ericdigests.org/1997-3/librarian.html

Small, R.V. (2002). Collaboration: where does it begin? Teacher Librarian, 29 (5), 8-11.

Tallman, J.I. & van Deusen, J.D. (1994). The impact of scheduling on curriculum, consultation and information skills instruction. School Library Media

Quarterly, 23 (1), 33-37. Turner, P.M. (1980). The relationship between the principal’s attitude and the

amount and type of instructional development performed by the media professional. International Journal of Instructional Media, 7 (2), 127-138.